Takeaways from Will Stein's intro presser at UK
Kentucky welcomed its new football head coach, Will Stein, with an introductory pep rally and press conference on Wednesday afternoon at the Nutter Fieldhouse.
Cats Illustrated was on hand, and these were some of our main takeaways from the festivities:
ON WHAT HE VALUES AT THE QUARTERBACK POSITION:
Stein has been calling plays for one of the best offenses in college football for the last three seasons at Oregon, and he’s also helped develop a Heisman Trophy finalist at quarterback in 2023 and 2024. He is widely regarded as one of the best young minds in the game for its most important position, so it was interesting to hear his first thoughts on what he values the most from his signal caller. “Everybody wants to look at height, weight, speed… do they fit the measurables?” Stein said. “But at quarterback, it’s so much more than that. It’s do they have the mental makeup to be the toughest MFer on the field? Because that’s what they got to be.” Toughness, mobility, and accuracy are the three essential qualities he’ll be looking for in recruiting.
ON HITTING THE GROUND RUNNING:
It’s been a whirlwind experience for Stein since accepting the UK job on Monday. He and his family flew across the country from Oregon to Lexington on Tuesday. He briefly met with his new team on Tuesday afternoon. He was introduced to fans at the basketball game on Tuesday night at Rupp Arena, a 9:40 tip-off, no less. And, on top of all that, Wednesday was signing day for high school players, and Stein was attempting to connect with as many of the Wildcats’ commitments as possible while also networking to assemble his new staff at UK. Whew. The 36-year-old Stein is one of the youngest head coaches in the country, but one could understand him looking a bit exhausted by Wednesday afternoon. He knows that’s what he signed up for. “It’s just going to be relentless, and it’s going to be a grind the next month, but it’s something that I’ve been dreaming of and wanting to do,” he said.
YEAH, BUT WHAT ABOUT DEFENSE?
Stein comes to Lexington with a tremendous offensive resume, but fans also want to know what his defense will look like. We still don’t know who his defensive coordinator will be, but Stein gave some examples of the philosophy he’ll be seeking. He discussed the importance of third-down packages with blitzing off the edges. He talked about finding safeties who can come down and play in the box at times. He mentioned being able to show multiple looks. While offense can often focus on a quarterback or an exceptional skill player, “defense is the power of the unit,” Stein said.
HIS FIRST UK TEAM WILL BE CHALLENGED IN THE OFF-SEASON:
Stein sent a message to the current Wildcats: Be ready to work. The goal is not to win five years down the road. “It’s not gonna be easy this off-season,” he saidd. My goal is to make it the hardest off-season we’ve ever had. The hardest. Has to be. If we want to beat the people that we want to beat… I’m talking about the real people that we’ve got to beat, it takes freakin’ work. It’s a grind. And when you don’t want to wake up in the morning, you got to wake up and you got to show up, and you got to show out. And that’s what I’m excited to get with this group, to see them strained, to see their toughness, to see their desire to get better.”
THE IMPORTANCE OF A GM POSITION FOR UK FOOTBALL:
It sounds like Oregon recruiting director Pat Biondo is going to follow Stein to UK, and that’s a big step for the program in the still-young NIL era. “We’re going to have the best general manager in the country,” Stein said. “I can’t report on that yet. I’m sure it will come out very soon, but yeah, there is that financial piece to it now. To me, the best trait of a college football coach right now is adaptability. We have to adapt. If you all are still saying, ‘I wish it was like the old days,’ it ain’t the old days. It’s not, so just get that out of your mind. Like, let’s push forward. Let’s move forward in this process.”
WELCOME BACK, BLUE/WHITE SPRING GAME?
It’s been quite some time since UK held a traditional spring game, something that fans have lamented in recent years. Oregon has bucked that recent trend in college football and held a full-fledged spring game during Stein’s time in Eugene. He indicated that we’ll likely see the Blue/White Spring Game back at Kroger Field. “For sure. You know what the best way to get better at football is? Play football. This isn’t like basketball. You can’t go out and play 5-on-5 in the backyard. You gotta put the pads on, you gotta hit, and you gotta tackle. That’s how you get better. That’s how you become tough. That’s how you go win games on the road in the SEC. You gotta play football, and that’s what we’ll do this spring. It’ll be a tough camp, but it will make us tough on Saturdays.”
